


Future Sight

by ThePrimeOne



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: But it's still about Petrashe, F/M, Fluff, Mentioned Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:27:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27678056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrimeOne/pseuds/ThePrimeOne
Summary: Petra makes the unconscious decision to find the Wayseer in Abyss.Written for the Felannie discord drabble challenge, for the prompt "Wayseer."
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Petra Macneary
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Future Sight

Petra wasn't sure what on earth she was doing in Abyss. Not that she didn't know what she wanted her ultimate destination to be, but  _ why  _ she'd decided to traverse Abyss' dark halls to start. She had previously contemplated visiting the underground labyrinth more often after talk began to spread of a woman with strange mystical abilities that resided in the underground maze once again—the same murmurings that circulated through the monastery five years ago.

Petra recalled an afternoon some weeks ago during a rare moment of reprieve for the residents of Garreg Mach, as she marched down into Abyss's depths and towards a particular room. Dorothea informed Petra over a cup of tea of a woman known as the 'Wayseer', one that could peer into the future or past to find fortune and answers for one who sought it. Coincidentally, five years ago, Dorothea had first spoken of the woman to Petra under similar circumstances. Now that most of the generals of the army had visited the Wayseer, beside Petra herself, it made for a great deal of gossip for Dorothea as Petra would quietly sit taking it all the information.

It wouldn't be the last time she heard such things about the Wayseer. Linhardt had once tiredly told Petra one night while cleaning weapons that after Lysithea had visited the Wayseer, she scowled less almost immediately upon re-emerging from Abyss, and generally stopped acting like herself. Supposedly, she'd later broke down into quiet sobs in Garreg Mach's library where only he was there to comfort her. It seemed almost too much of a tall tale to be genuine, but Linhardt's stern face upon making Petra sweat to secrecy regarding this made Petra realise the gravity of the situation. After they'd completed their last mission to push back against the Empire, Caspar spoke enthusiastically of a story at camp while they were alone. It began with Caspar and Ashe attempting to find a cat that escaped into Abyss before they stumbled across the Wayseer and had their futures told to them. All the while, Caspar had been cheekily grinning akin to a Cheshire cat, as if there was a point to the story she wasn't understanding.

The recollection of that particular memory made her frown deepen as she stalked the dimly lit hallways, not regarding Caspar, but rather one Ashe Ubert. It didn't take long for Petra to put two and two together. Ever since the month prior, just before they were to take the Bridge of Myrddin, Ashe's behaviour took a rather sudden turn. Long gone was the kind and the confident man she'd only recently admired beyond merely being a friend. Now, whenever they would speak, Ashe's gaze could barely meet hers, he stuttered over his words more often, and Ashe's cheeks often went red whenever they talked to each other alone. 

Not that Petra didn't find his odd new mannerisms cute, but she quickly figured out the timing of his change in behaviour and Caspar's story lined up almost too perfectly.

Had this occurred five years ago, Petra would have quickly set such things aside to focus on her studies. Now that Petra had the perspective of five years of war and careful games of politics with the Empire, she knew better than to waste opportunities when they presented themselves, even with seemingly minor situations like these.

And as if Petra's body moved on its own, she made the rather abrupt decision to find this Wayseer to see what the fuss was about. Petra focused on the here and now, keeping a grip on the dagger attached to her hip as she jogged through the dimly lit halls, some of the torches troches' flames sputtered out.

After losing herself in Abyss's many hallways for what seemed like forever, Petra finally stumbled across a comparatively colourfully lit room of blues and purples with two women silently occupying the space. One chanted something under her breath Petra couldn't understand, and another was flicking through a large book. A large pot filled with some concoction, a globe of the world and a cabinet sat to the Wayseer's left. Two large chairs sat to her right and books and paper scattered on the floor under the table. The woman dressed more akin to a dancer than what a fortune teller in the stories of Fodlan and Brigid wore, opened her eyes and made eye contact with Petra as if she sensed her presence. She looked to another young woman- an assistant, perhaps- that was in the room. Without a word, she silently left, leaving Petra and the Wayseer on their own.

"Why hello there," the Wayseer politely greeted her. Petra caught off-guard by her voice. It was how she imagined the witches in some of the books Ashe had lent her sounded in her mind. The Wayseer motioned to the opposite end of the table. "Come stand closer, young one."

Petra complied, walking up two steps then stood still, unsure what to do.

"Now. I trust you wish to hear a potential fortune for the future? Or do you wish to know the truth of the past? I sense no other reason you wish to see me, after all."

Petra contemplated the questions she'd wanted to ask for a moment. Not only the future but also the past? That changed everything. She thought a little longer before she came to another abrupt decision, one rashly made. She'd wanted to have her fortune known for some time, but the latter was far too tempting. 

"I am wishing to know of a past- my past. I wish to see my father. I miss him dearly, and I am longing to see his face again. Would such a thing be possible?"

The Wayseer hummed contemplatively, staring into Petra's eyes. She could help but feel as if she saw straight through, or was being read like an open book. "It is possible, but it will be difficult for me to conceive. I may only see glimpses of someone's past. My magic can only do so much."

"I have understanding," Petra nodded. 

Spirits knows what possessed Petra to suddenly ask why she wanted to see her father of all people. She missed him dearly, evident by the fact that not a day went by when she didn't think about him, and his warm protective embrace. Eventually, she had made peace with the fact that he was no longer of this world, that Petra and her country's future rested on her shoulders, ones that would have to cooperate with the people who were responsible for her father's death.

Yet here she was, suddenly forcing herself to see her father's face again, and for what? For all that effort she spent to move past her grief, only for it to crumble away, for a glimpse at what was, and will never be?

The Wayseer hummed in understanding. "You are not the first who has asked for such a thing. I will do my best to fulfil your request." The woman hovered her hands above her crystal ball and moved it around. Chants uttered quietly reached Petra's ears, who vaguely understood bits and pieces of the incantation. The Wayseer's hands grew bright with magic, and the inside of the crystal ball filled with smoke that shifted in part on its own, and by the Wayseer's hands, despite not touching it directly. The smoke parted and clung to the sides of the crystal ball, and fell to the bottom.

Petra stared, waiting anxiously for a glimpse into the past the Wayseer agreed to show her. The woman's eyes met Petra's with a sad smile instead.

"...It would seem the past you wish to see is something beyond my ability."

Petra's heart didn't drop upon hearing this revelation, but she did feel a twinge of sadness within her. The Princess stared at the crystal ball. "I have understanding." 

She didn't.

"I am terribly sorry, I truly mean it. Perhaps I can try to conjure up glimpses into your future to make up for blunder?"

This time, she didn't hesitate. "Yes. I would like that, I am thinking."

The Wayseer's expression turned into a smirk for a second before she returned her hands to its previous starting position, slowly moving it around the crystal ball, somehow manipulating the smoke inside it again as she uttered chants quietly.

The smoke settled on the sides again, leaving a gap in the middle of the crystal ball.

But unlike last time, an image shimmered to life that began to move. 

"Oh my. What do we have here?" the Wayseer gasped in legitimate surprise.

Petra immediately recognised the beach of Brigid her back pointed towards... someone. She immediately recognised another version of herself in the image of the crystal ball enthusiastically pulling the mystery person along the beachside and into the shallow ends of the ocean. 

The image dissipated and another reformed. Future Petra stared down at her hand, an expensive ring adorning her left ring finger and an engagement ring on top of it. She looked up and stared at herself in the mirror, dolled in makeup and dressed in traditional garbs suited for Brigid's marriage ceremonies, hardly paying attention to the friends present Petra recognised, those from Brigid and Fodlan as they fussed over her outfit.

Just as quickly as it appeared, the image disappeared, and once more appeared, but only for a few brief seconds. Petra's breath caught as she spotted her future self and a man, whose face was hidden by a stray cloud of smoke, fawning over two newborn babies to the point of happy tears prickling at her eyes. 

The smoke fell off from the sides of the crystal ball and fell to the bottom, as it did before, and Petra felt herself go into a daze thinking about what on earth she just saw.

"That was… my future?" she whispered shakily.

"Yes," confirmed the Wayseer. "That was as far as I could see."

"But I must be knowing… how are able to be doing such things?"

"I can't exactly give away too many specific details," the woman winked. "But I will say this: the future is never particularly set in stone. These are simply observations based on what future I can see, and visualise thanks to this crystal ball and powerful reason magic," she explained.

"Usually, it manifests in images, as singular moments in time. But for such futures to play out like as we witnessed moments ago? That is usually not just up to me," the Wayseer continued, waving her hand around the crystal ball, absentmindedly guiding the smoke around the inside of the crystal ball.

"You see, my ability to peer into the past or a future relies in part on the wills of my clients. If you did not wish in your heart to peer back or forward in time, then I would have great difficulty finding you a satisfactory answer to your request."

The woman leaned sat up in her chair and straightened her back. "The future is ever-changing and evolving. It shifts according to events and people in the present. What I showed you was but one potential future, but unlike most others who have come before you, this vision was unusually clear. So clear in fact, that the visions shifted from mere glimpses in time to entire situations playing out before us."

The Wayseer drummed her fingers on the crystal ball. "All that to say: the reason why we witnessed such a rare occurrence, is because you long for that future the most. Our desires and wishes are more often subconscious than we realise" she innocently smiled at Petra.

The Princess' ears went red, realising the Wayseer did see right through her despite giving her no visible reaction. "Your heart wishes to look towards a new horizon, and this mysterious young man, whoever he may be," she trailed off to cheeky give Petra a knowing smirk. "Is one of these focal points of that potential future."

Petra stood in silence and felt she was exposed in her entirety; as if everyone in the whole world had been watching with its beady eyes besides the one person that mattered as a stranger walked through and laid out exactly what her mangled feelings were.

Petra looked down at the crystal ball, the gears turning in her head.

"One month ago, before the army left for the marching to the Bridge of Myrrdin, two of my comrades came here and asked to see their future. Did one of those people share the same future as me?"

The Wayseer chuckled. "It would seem he was right. You are very perceptive, Your Highness."

Petra's eyes went wide, and her heart hammered in her chest.

Everything made sense. Ashe's change in behaviour and the timing of Caspar's story before the resistance army took back the Bridge of Myrddin. That was as close to a confirmation as she could get, she gathered. 

"And as I said, the future is never usually so clear. This young man's future was almost as clear as yours. I have no doubt he yearns for this future. He has certainly expressed wishes to put forth an effort for you and Brigid's freedom, even if Fodlan is his home."

Petra took in everything the Wayseer said to keep in the back of her mind. "I... have understanding. Please pardon me if I sound as if I am disbelieving. It is rather overwhelming. And please be calling me Petra," the younger woman shook her head.

"Very well then, Petra. But please don't worry, I understand. Many usually get more than they bargain for when they visit me," the Wayseer grinned. "Now! I believe you have somewhere to be, yes?"

Petra blinked at the young woman, bewildered. "I do?"

"Yes," the Wayseer nodded. "I believe you have something you wish to discuss with a certain someone, no? The cathedral may be a good place to start. I hear the Prince is strangely absent from there these days, despite his typical behaviour since you lot returned, so you'll have little to worry about."

Her eyes widened when it occurred to Petra what the older woman was saying. She felt a little flame of courage flicker and grow within her. "Ah, I understand. Yes, you are correct, Wayseer. Thank you very much for allowing me to meet with you. The clarity I am feeling, I will not take for granted."

The Wayseer hummed, leaning her cheek into her palm as Petra stepped back and turned around.

The Wayseer waved her hand over the crystal ball and smiled, looking at a still picture of a woman warmly smiling and holding the hands of a silvered haired man at the ruined cathedral, their gazes unmoving from each other. "I don't doubt you will," she replied, just loud enough for Petra to hear as she left.

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Writing a fic? Madness, I know, but I hope it was good at least? I've been sitting on this one for a while just because I didn't like it, but I decided to stop putting off uploading it today.
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated. Thanks for reading!


End file.
